Isaiah 6 Introduction Isaiah came from a prominent family in Jerusalem. He was an 8 th century prophet who appeared at a critical time in Judah s history. He proclaimed a message of judgment and demanded repentance! But he always hoped that the nation would turn back to God and be spared from severe punishment. As Isaiah was beginning his ministry, the Assyrians were in the process of building an empire that threatened to swallow up Israel unless God intervened. This is why the decision Ahaz was forced to make in Isaiah 7 was so crucial. He had to choose between placing his trust in human wisdom and power or in God to deliver the nation from war. God even graciously offered to give Ahaz a sign to enhance his faith, but Ahaz would not commit himself to trust in God. Instead he made an alliance with Assyria.
2 The outcome was the Syro-Ephraimite War from 734 to 732 B.C and Judah s loss of political independence. They became vassals successively of Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. And yet, in spite of all of this, God promised to restore a remnant! Everytime they ran away, God came after them. Isaiah was called to a huge mission! He would have to preach to a people that had turned their backs on God. They mocked Isaiah and could care less about his message. He might as well have been talking to himself. But God wouldn t have it any other way. God was determined to offer them repentance and salvation. Everytime they ran, He came after them! But they were lethargic and idolatrous. Just how lethargic and idolatrous were they?
3 We can look at three passages in chap. 1 to summarize what the book says about their spiritual condition and note at the same time three reasons for their spiritual decline: 1. They were spiritually insensitive (1:3-6). 3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. (Isaiah 1:3) 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. (Isaiah 1:4) 5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. (Isaiah 1:5) 6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil. (Isaiah 1:6) a. They had no perception. b. It was like one blind man leading another.
4 2. They suffered malnutrition of the spirit (1:12-17). 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:12-17) a. Amos prophecy concerning a famine of the Word in the land had come to roost. b. It was so sad!
5 3. They had lost perspective (1:21-23). 21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her but now murderers! 22 Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water. 23 Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them. (Isaiah 1:21-23) a.they couldn t fathom, articulate, or formulate the problem. b. Their disobedience to God s covenant had blinded them to the truth. Into this sinful culture, walks Isaiah. But before Isaiah walks into this mess, God appears to him in chaper 6 to prepare him for the confrontation. 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
6 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:1-4) 5 Woe to me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty. 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, Here am I. Send me! (Isaiah 6:5-8) I ve almost always looked at this chapter through the eyes of Isaiah that God was showing himself to Isaiah so that Isaiah would be strong and brave. But my reading this week has shown me that, although it does have that effect on Isaiah and on us, it really teaches us about who God is. I want us to see God as He really is. And I want us to have a theology that contains reality and not a reality that contains God. That s why this book, among other reasons, is as noteworthy today as it was 2800 years ago. I want to point out five things about God in vv. 1-4 because we can only worship a God we know.
7 I. God Is Sovereign Judge A. The problem is that they had attributed too much humanity to God. 1. God was trivialized, secularized and rationalized. (a) (b) (c) It s like thinking you can do anything you want and get away with it. It s like thinking you have to be superstitous and and closed-minded to put your faith in God. It s like devising a self-satisfying but incorrect reason for your behavior. 2. Verse 1 says that God is not like man, 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1) 3. Wow! a. the Lord seated on his throne, b. high, c. exalted, d. the train of his robe filling the temple. 4. God dwells in another dimension. a. He s spirit. b. He s power. c. He s that which embraces human existence. 5. This is the God that appears to the prophet Isaiah.
8 a. He contradicts their perceptions of Himself. b. To them God was either synonymous with the universe (i.e. Pantheism), c. or God was like man (i.e. Anthropomorphic God). d. But this assumes too much about God. (1)That He s like us. (2)That He always appreciates our viewpoint. (3)Especially about: (a) human logic, (b) common sense (c) and that the He isn t radical. (4)The God that Isaiah sees isn t human! II. God Dwells in Another Dimension. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. (Isaiah 6:2) A. He has retinue Seraphim (burning ones). 1. These servants are different, unusual unearthly extra-dimensional
9 2. They reflect the gravity of the atmosphere of God s presence: - Each had six wings: with two he covered his face. with two He covered his feet. with two He flew. 3. God dwells in another dimension! (a)no earthly reality could cope with the reality of God. IMPOSSIBLE! (b)right here we find the key to man s success! (c)to see God as He really is! Sovereign, Judge, seated on his throne, high, exalted. This presses us To have a theology that contains reality, not a reality that contains God! 4. The reality of our human experience absorbs our view of God: -It shrinks God... -It neutralizes God -It puts God in a box and limits Him!
10 - And in the case of some it kills God (Nietzsche). 5. Isaiah is telling us today that only our dwelling deeply within the world of God can save us from creating an imaginable, separable reality. -One that exists only in our minds! -It s the ultimate form of self-deception! -It s the cause of idol creation. -It s the reason God sent Isaiah! III. God Is Holy. 3 And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; (Isaiah 6:3) A. Holy means complete perfection. 1.God is holy in every way. 2.God is purity personified. 3. Holy is a sphere belonging specifically to God. 4.Judah is no longer holy. (a)she has prostituted herself to other: -purposes -values
11 -agendas -gods. (b)that s why Isaiah is there! (c)that s why doom is coming at the hands of Assyria! (d)that s why Isaiah is preaching So that they repent and God relents. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. (Isaiah 30:19) IV. God Is to Be the Human Reference Point. 3 the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3) A.The Lord has never left himself without witness. 1.The nature of creation screams forth His: -presence -nature -power 20 For since the creation of the world God s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom 1:18) 2. The earth is more than a theater for human operations. 3. Earth is a reference point for finding God serving God for proclaiming God.
12 4. This means all the earth: every ethnic group every culture every aspect of human life: birth death marriage sickness every high mountain, flat plain every forest and desert is full of God s glory 5. Isaiah is saying, in other words, that every life is to be a reference point to God. - God as He is is sufficient for our task of living. - God is the framework in which all of life is placed. V. God Is a Presence. 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. (Isaiah 6:4) the doorposts and thresholds shook the temple was filled with smoke A.Everything testifies that God is alive and present! B.He s not to be ignored nor reclassified. C.He is to be seen as He really is!
13 Conclusion When we see God as He really is, we see ourselves as we really are. This is a good thing. It shows us that God is willing to forgive us and live with us. Just think about it The Creator of the universe has come to us in Jesus. And He accepts us just as we are. Isaiah speaks to us today. He says, 19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it. (Isaiah 30:19, 21) The worship of God is its own end! God it the subject and object of worship (LIFE).